With the widespread adoption of low-power radio frequency communication and the rapid development of smart energy construction, the digital transformation of public utilities such as water meters, electricity meters, gas meters, and heat meters has entered a critical phase. Therefore, how to improve the accuracy of data collection in many complex environments, enhance the coverage of wireless networks and battery life, and achieve more stable, accurate, and efficient data transmission services has become one of the most pressing concerns in the smart metering industry.
In modern residential and commercial office areas, energy supply companies for water, electricity, gas, and heating can use smart meters that support WM-Bus, LoRaWAN, Sub-GHz proprietary protocols, or BLE, combined with cloud-based intelligent control systems, to share real-time, accurate, and transparent energy consumption records with users. This enables centralized data storage and remote management, improves energy efficiency, and reduces the cost of manual meter reading.
As shown in the figure below, the smart four-meter wireless data collection solution uses LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network) technology to achieve intelligent, remote, and automated management of water meters, electricity meters, gas meters, and heat meters. It covers the entire process of data collection, transmission, processing, and application, and features adaptive network structure, stable operation, and convenient expansion. It can effectively improve the metering management efficiency and customer service capabilities of energy supply companies.
Schematic diagram of a wireless data collection solution for smart meters.
HOPERF, an IoT chip manufacturer with over two decades of experience in low-power wireless RF communication and signal chain technology, has independently developed a series of low-power, high-performance wireless RF transceiver chips and modules. These chips and modules not only support multiple modulation methods such as OOK, FSK, GFSK , and LoRa , but are also compatible with various LPWAN communication solutions including WM-Bus, LoRaWAN, and Sub-GHz proprietary protocols. This comprehensive support can significantly improve the accuracy and efficiency of wireless data collection for smart meters . For example:
• Sub-GHz series
The CMT2310A is a digital-analog transceiver with a variety of unique transceiver functions that can effectively improve the wireless communication quality of IoT devices. It uses a 32MHz crystal to provide the PLL reference frequency and digital clock, supports both Direct and Packet data processing modes, and has a transmit power of up to +20dBm and a sensitivity of -122dBm, which can greatly optimize the link performance of smart meter wireless data collection.
The CMT2392F512 is a high-performance Sub-GHz wireless transceiver microcontroller. It integrates a 32-bit ARM Cortex-M4F core and an ultra-low-power Sub-GHz RF transceiver, supports multiple data packet formats and encoding/decoding methods, and can further simplify the number of peripheral components, reduce hardware size, reduce operating power consumption, optimize product cost and improve product reliability, and effectively improve the quality of wireless data collection for smart meters.
• LoRa series
The RFM95C is a LoRa SPI module with significantly lower current and power consumption than other devices in the industry. It adopts an advanced mixed-signal design and is based on a unique adaptive rate algorithm. It can not only cover communication scenarios from long distance and low speed to short to medium distance and medium to high speed, but also achieve a breakthrough in the "distance, anti-interference, and power consumption" triangle trade-off problem. It can also ensure stable transmission of smart meter wireless data collection in complex environments.
The RFM6601 is a LoRaWAN module that has passed FCC/CE/IC certification and features low power consumption, high sensitivity, long-distance communication, and high cost-effectiveness. It integrates a general-purpose MCU, RF transceiver, modem, and peripheral devices, supports LoRaWAN nodes, and can efficiently build a wireless data collection network for smart meters. It can still transmit digital signals stably and accurately in low signal-to-noise ratio environments and significantly extend the battery life of smart meters.
• BLE Series
The HM-BT4531 is a low-power, high-performance BLE module certified by BQB, FCC, CE, IC, and SRRC. It integrates a 32-bit ARM Cortex-M0 core at 64MHz, 48KB SRAM , 256KB FLASH , and an advanced 5.2 BLE RF transceiver. It also employs intelligent interference cancellation technology and supports wireless data pass-through, enabling real-time reading and configuration of smart meter data from mobile phones or handheld devices , making on-site meter reading and maintenance more convenient and efficient.
It is worth mentioning that, in addition to the aforementioned wireless radio frequency chips and modules, HOPERF can also provide a variety of low-power, high-precision, and high-linearity digital pressure sensors for smart gas meters (especially ultrasonic smart gas meters), helping them to fully upgrade into "IoT smart terminals" with safety monitoring, data sensing, and intelligent linkage capabilities. For example:
The 6862i is a digital barometric pressure sensor (absolute pressure) that features low power consumption, high accuracy, and miniaturization. It is designed based on the capacitive principle and has a built-in calibration coefficient, which can be used in applications (such as host processors) to compensate for measurement deviations caused by the nonlinear characteristics of the sensor, thereby outputting high-precision pressure and temperature data. It is also waterproof, making it an excellent solution for achieving high-precision gas flow measurement in smart gas meters.
PTM00X is a series of specialized products developed for the fluid handling industry. It features professional waterproof hammer impact resistance, excellent electrical performance and long-term stability. It can accurately monitor pressure fluctuations inside urban gas pipelines or gas containers and make flexible adjustments based on real-time data feedback.
By combining wireless radio frequency transmission with high-precision sensor technology, HOPERF can not only provide a complete solution for smart energy management from sensing to communication, but also deeply meet the core needs of smart meters in complex scenarios for " low power consumption, wide coverage, high accuracy, and strong stability " , helping the global public utility sector to transform and upgrade from " basic data collection " to " intelligent operation and management " .
